Rob Mahoney

Last Friday, David Stern — acting as some amalgam of both owner of the New Orleans Hornets and commissioner of the NBA — put the kibosh on a trade that would’ve sent Chris Paul to the Lakers, brought Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, and Lamar Odom to the Hornets, and shipped Pau Gasol to the Rockets.…

There’s no use in denying it: free agency in the NBA is kind of a blast, and particularly so when the entire period is condensed into a few hyper-active weeks of player movement. But beyond the surface-level intrigue of roster shuffling is a pretty clear demonstration of league-wide values. Free agency gives general managers the…

The New York Knicks have gone to great lengths to find a talented center counterpart for Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. They used the amnesty clause to waive veteran point guard Chauncey Billups, and blew $14 million in the process. They chipped in another $3 million just to ensure the passing of the three-team deal…

UPDATE (12:59 AM EST): Sam Amick of SI.com to the rescue: Orlando PR man Joel Glass calls to inform that D. Howard’s agent now has permission to speak w/ Lakers, Nets, & Mavs about possible trade. Glass was clear that this permission was from here “going forward,” not previously. The Lakers and Nets make sense…

Amid a flurry of activity across the league, the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic quietly agreed to swap two somewhat frustrating bigs. Brandon Bass, the athletic power forward who gave Stan Van Gundy more than a few gray hairs during his stint with the Magic, is Boston-bound in exchange for a signed-and-traded Glen Davis. It…

Richard Hamilton has been perfecting his sulking game in Detroit over the last year or so, and the Pistons are finally done with him. According to Perry Farrell of the Detroit Free Press, the Pistons have agreed to buy out Hamilton’s contract and make him an unrestricted free agent. Farrell makes the important distinction that…

Although the Miami Heat’s failure to win the NBA title made them a frequent punchline, let’s not soon forget just how quickly the Heat were able to rise to the top of the league. Miami is an altogether incredible team, and though they squandered an opportunity in the NBA Finals, they likely need only to…

The post-lockout free agency period has seen teams throw gobs of money at Caron Butler, Tyson Chandler, and Nene, but out in Sactown they’re showing some impressive restraint. The Kings aren’t in any rush to substantial salary commitments to their books, but in their efforts to build up their roster and meet the league’s payroll…

Over the last few years, Twitter has completely changed the NBA experience. It gives basketball fans a place to congregate online in order to discuss breaking news or thrilling games. It gives reporters a mechanism to get their scoops to readers as quickly as possible, without having to worry about wasting precious moments for the…

In the blink of an eye, the entire landscape of the NBA has changed. As originally reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Hornets, and Houston Rockets have agreed on the framework of a deal that will bring Chris Paul to L.A. The long-standing rumors linking the league’s best…

Free agency wouldn’t be free agency without a twinge of instant regret, and the Clippers may be the first buyers in this year’s market to experience it. According to David Aldridge of NBA.com, Caron Butler has agreed to a three-year, $24 million deal with the Clips, a fair bit more than the league’s more reasonable…

Teams aren’t technically allowed to come to agreements with free agents just yet, but Tracy McGrady is reportedly locked in to join the Atlanta Hawks nonetheless. But, before anyone engages in the usual snark-fest that ensues whenever McGrady’s name comes up, they should honestly consider the terms and return on this deal. McGrady may not have the…

The Indiana Pacers snuck into the NBA Playoffs last season thanks to weak competition among the middling teams of the Eastern Conference, but the playoff appearance itself — and the dogfight Indiana was able to give the Chicago Bulls in the first round — still meant plenty to the Pacers’ young, developing core. Then-interim head…

As has been made abundantly clear over the last few weeks, the New Orleans Hornets are in a tough spot. Most reports have Chris Paul with one foot out the door — a colossally bad omen for the franchise in virtually every sense. Paul is the Hornets’ livelihood. He is the team’s leader, its star player, and…

Tyson Chandler shocked the known basketball world yesterday with an acknowledgement that he doesn’t expect to be back with the title-winning Dallas Mavericks next season. For a variety of reasons, the Mavs have reportedly underwhelmed Chandler with their offers thus far, and their starting center — and the key to their half-court defense — could…

Joel Anthony averaged just 2.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game for the Miami Heat last season. Yet if you ask the right people, they’ll preach of his on-court value. Anthony is considerably undersized for the center position, but his smart decisions, constant activity, and impressive lateral quickness make him an excellent team defender. Anthony…

The NBA is currently in the process of moving the lockout into its rearview mirror, but even that development can’t bring home all of the league’s wayward sons. There are plenty of players who signed contracts overseas without an NBA out, and beyond that, apparently, a contingent that’s able to find better contract conditions overseas…

Though the formalization of the new CBA proceeds at a slow churn, the NBA rumor mill is already in mid-season form. Chris Paul and Dwight Howard — both in the final year of their respective contracts — are suddenly ready to be shipped every which way, and media outlets of every form are examining the…

We still have yet to see the NBA’s official schedule (or have approval of the tentative collective bargaining framework from the NBA’s players and owners, but who’s letting that stop them from moving on?) for the coming season, but thanks to a release from NBA.com, we have a basic idea of how the distribution of…

For all of the emphasis on David Stern’s recent ultimatum to the members of the National Basketball Players Association, this is hardly the first time he’s issued a deadline threat against the union. The lockout has been laced with cancellation dates, each with the accompanying acknowledgement from Stern that the league’s offers would reflect the…

The NBPA hasn’t done the best job of managing their PR front. David Stern has done his damnedest to control the public message of the lockout, all while the factions that have reportedly formed among the players threaten to decertify the union entirely and rip the 2011-2012 season apart. Yet individually, the lockout has provided…

Thursday night marked the 2011 D-League Draft, and to little surprise, proven NBAer Jamaal Tinsley went first overall to the L.A. D-Fenders. As much as the league itself is concerned with developing talent, a player of Tinsley’s caliber held obvious appeal to what is, first and foremost, an actual basketball organization. The D coaches up…

This lockout has never been as simple as one side negotiating against another in an effort to produce a fair deal. There are a number of factors circling the negotiations that inevitably have an impact on their progress and timeline. The NBPA still holds the threat of decertification, a breaking point from which there is…

Just in case you’ve forgotten that the NBA is locked out, let me do my absolute damnedest to remind you: we could be talking about actual basketball right now, but instead, I’m going to point you in the direction of E! Online’s listing of 15 “Super Sexy Basketball Hunks,” (via Tim Griffin of Spurs Nation). The…

UPDATE (7:24 PM): Per Howard Beck of the New York Times, George Cohen will not be coming back to the collective bargaining sessions after all. Plus, there remains no scheduled time or date for the resumption of talks. Delightful news all around. 2:18 PM: The negotiations to end the NBA lockout are not ongoing —…